[Jaykobell]

He had expected the farmlands to look much of the same as they always did. There wasn't much difference between pale beiges and creams and shades of grey, in his mind.

He was surprised when he reached the farms and realized that it looked just as desolate as everywhere else. Part of him had hoped it would've looked a little less depressing. Part of him had hoped the difference wouldn't have been this jarring.

He held that little machine in his hands. He already had so little time on his hands to find some source of color. That scientist had told him the machine could help him find the remaining colors. So why wasn't it picking up on anything? He had no time!

After walking for a while with no reaction and no colors in sight, he started stressing. "Come on!" he yelled at the machine, shaking it. "Why won't you pick up on anything?!" Why did he need this thing, anyway? In this desolate, drab, colorless world, he'd see the colors. Had that scientist just been playing him for a fool?

A spark of anger popped, and he threw the machine down on the ground. "Stupid thing!"

He leaned over the wooden fence, hands holding his head. He glanced up, seeing Tuskows and other cattle roaming the fields slowly, as if nothing were wrong. A putrid, recognizable smell overwhelmed him. "This whole thing is shit," he whispered pitifully.

[Redd]

So he didn't exactly make a habit of visiting this backwater little town, if you could really call it a town. The locals insisted that, because it had a small pub and a gas station, that made it practically a city. Even goddamn had to totally disagree with that statement.

Then again, he was a city boy and he was only here to visit the family for the holiday season, so what did he know?

And then that whole debacle happened, the whole... world losing color thing. He didn't know what they were calling it because guess what? You couldn't even get any damn signal in this godawful place and so he didn't know if it was like that back in the city or if it was just here and he was sick and stressed. Say it was like this at home, would he be out of a job? He had a job, providing people with music, lights and lyrics. A place to escape from their troubles. A place to lose yourself in the deep bass, pulsing lights and swirling color. That was a bit hard to do when the music was filled with distortion, the lights struggled to pierce the darkness and... well, the world was lacking color so you figure that one out.

And could we talk about the fact that his hair just looked ugly now? Black with grey and white highlights. Awful. He'd never be able to shake the comments if anyone caught him like this.

A hand gripped the perimetre fence and he gave it a bit of a shove for good measure. To distract himself from this whole mess, Evan had been helping fix the fence because what else could he do really? Suddenly, a voice yelled out and close. Evan flinched and jumped away, wildly looking across the drab landscape for something, anything, when he spotted someone else out here.

"Uh... hey?" he cautiously called out, not too keen on the idea of socialising but honestly, it'd be weird if he didn't. Cautiously, he reached down for the strange device, with the intent of returning it. "You... dropped your thing...?"

[Jaykobell]

He was so discouraged. And strangers could probably tell from his clothes, even with the complete lack of color. His hair was messy, his clothes were uneven, a part in his pants and another hanging loose, the top buttons undone.

He wasn't really in the mood to interact. That scientist had upset him enough. "Ugh, it doesn't matter," he answered to the other man. "Some stupid scientist told me it'd help me find whatever color's left out there, but this stupid thing's done nothing to help! So you can keep it." Was he supposed to return it? Whatever. He hadn't had time to pay much attention. He'd heard promises of finding colors, and it had lead him nowhere.

"Just..." he started mumbling again, "just, you haven't seen any colors anywhere around here, have you?" he asked, straightening up and looking back at the stranger. "Like, anything? I really need to find color, any color," he explained, and it was hard to hide the desperation from his voice. In this kind of open area, someone had to have found something, right?

[Redd]

Evan reached down, gently closing fingers around the device and turning it over in his hands, like it was some great treasure. "Find whatever color's left..." he mumbled, half to himself and half to no one in particular. That was... fascinating? Some scientist was just... handing these out? He didn't really know much about scientists or you know, weird vaguely apocalyptic scenarios but he couldn't shake the feeling that this was the big find he was looking for.

Maybe he wouldn't have to face total humiliation! Maybe he could go back to doing his job!

He almost thought the stranger would just be content with letting him take the thing and be on his way, until well... the stranger was talking again. Desperate. Maybe he could use this. "Uh... no, I haven't. But I haven't really been looking. I thought it was all gone." While one hand was pushing his messy mop of grey, black and white hair back, in the other, his fingers curled almost defensively around the device, worried that the stranger might try and wrestle it back off him. "You say there's... color? Like actual places where people can see in color?" He pressed. Answers were important now, necessary. "I... need to find color too! I... it's important, to me. To other people."

Okay a bit of a stretch maybe... but whatever. If this guy believed him and let him take the device or at least work with him. They'd both get what they'd want with any luck.

[Jaykobell]

He waited impatiently, but quietly, for the other man to answer him. Was he thinking? Had he seen anything, and he was trying to recollect where? He knew he shouldn't be hoping, but he couldn't help it.

That sliver of hope was crushed when the other said he hadn't seen any color. He sighed, leaning against the fence again. That was always the answer people gave him. No one had seen anything. And that stupid machine, it wasn't picking up on anything.

But he regained a little bit of hope when the man sounded just as passionate about finding color as he was. "I... I get it. I need to find color for someone. It's urgent, and I don't have all that much time." He shook his head. "There's some scientist who said that thing could help me find whatever color's left," he explained as he pointed to the machine. "They said there is color out there. That there's spots of leftover color out there..."

He trailed off, and he looked back down at the ground. "But I haven't found anything. Nothing at all."

[Redd]

Hm, this guy was a little ball of sunshine, wasn't he? If he was half as defeated as he looked then would he even be of any help? No. Simple answer was no. So of course it was going to have to fall on his shoulders to rally this guy to help him. It was so simple to do this with a crowd but with a single person... well, he was introverted and sometimes it showed.

He took in a breath, familiar mask falling back into place, the same one he used to talk to producers and venue owners without having a panic attack. Honestly, he knew what the man was feeling. He was struggling to keep his head up as well. His entire identity was in shambles. How could he be expected to be okay when he placed so much self-worth on that identity. "Hey... well..." Even rolled his shoulders in an exaggerated shrug and carefully stepped around to place himself in the stranger's field of view. "I'm pretty determined to find this thing myself. And if the scientist gave you that, surely it's not a scam right? There'd be some grain of truth to it?"
He was really spitballing here but hopefully something was sticking.

"Maybe you just... need a new pair of eyes?"

[Jaykobell]

The words made him perk up. "You are?" he asked upon hearing that this man was determined to find whatever was left of the colors, too. "Oh, finally!" he exclaimed, his mood picking up and his voice sounding relieved. "No one's been willing or interested to help! Everyone's just been... God, everyone's just been so..." He struggled to find the right word.

"It's like they couldn't care less about what's going on," he finally explained. "I keep asking if anyone's seen color, if anyone knows anything, and I just get grunts or some dismissive answer!" How could nobody care? Were people just in shock? Or maybe they didn't associate as much importance on color as he did. His reason for needing color was truly rather unique.

Realizing he had been rambling for a bit there, he blinked. "But, um, yes! God, I'd love some help," he admitted. "I..." He trailed off for a moment. "I-I gotta find color for my friend. They're dying, and they need it. I thought... I thought that machine would help me." He looked back down at the trinket in the other man's hands. "Maybe you might... be better at using it than I am?"

[Redd]

Yeesh this guy... he was talkative. Evan guessed that was one way of putting it. Maybe a bit highly strung too? Not that he was one to judge, he technically was the one having an existential crisis over his image. He flicked his eyes out over the cold grey landscape, before exhaling softly and rolling his head back around to look at the stranger.

"Yeaaaah... I guess, if it doesn't bother 'em, why should it bother anyone else." He huffed, and giving a short shrug.  Most people didn't want to be reminded of things they feared. People didn't care, most people weren't really there.. He knew all too well about that. On the off nights that Tony let him, that's usually what he chose to sing about. Of course, communicating that via ordinary conversation was not his strong point. "Or they're probably just scared. Shit's a bit weird."

Though, okay. He had to blink a bit in shock at the last bombshell this guy had dropped on him. Someone was... dying from the lack of color? "Dying? Shit... I didn't think this stuff was that dangerous." he pondered, feeling a sudden need to hold his breath. Maybe... it was the air? "I figured I needed to get color back so I could go back to helping people but the news didn't really say anything about that..."

Evan gestured for the stranger to follow him, moving to turn and walk, just to appear like he was doing something. He once again looked down at the device, giving it a short tap with his knuckles to see if that would solve it. The interface flickered but he didn't see any blips just yet. "We should start walking to start covering ground. Give me a few with this, I'm pretty good with tech."

[Jaykobell]

He sighed, and he kept his eyes on the ground as he followed along. Right, maybe jumping straight into bringing up that his friend was dying had been a little extreme. "Yeah, it's... it's complicated," he tried to explain, even though that did little to clear up any confusion. "I-I don't think anyone else is dying from it," he added quickly. "I haven't heard anything about it being dangerous. Just... What you said. Weird." And the reason why his friend was dying transcended that, so he kept that information to himself.

"But, um, it's great you want to help people!" He thought it better to change the subject. "What do you do, usually?" He thought it might direct the idle talk into a better direction, as they walked, and as this newfound partner tried to work out this device.

"Oh, uh, and..." He looked up from the device to stare back at the other man. "What's your name? I'm Hori," he asked, and he held out a hand when he introduced himself. If they were going to travel for a tiny bit, they really ought to know each other's name.

[Redd]

Well, that didn't really amount to anything. Maybe it was coincidental then? It didn't confirm or deny that this colorless event was dangerous in any way, but it seemed like Hori didn't know a whole lot about it and didn't really want to go into it. Evan was curious, it seemed like there was a bit to this but it also wasn't his place to pry.

Evan blinked down at the offered hand, then back up to Hori's face. This guy really needed to take a breath between trains of thoughts. "Hori, huh? I'm..." he trailed off absentmindedly, tossing up what name to give. The man had asked his profession as well, but he looked incredibly like a normie so some care would have to be taken to explain it. Especially since he'd gone for the pretentious, self-righteous angle and he was kicking himself for that. "I'm Evan, I'm... a bit of a singer/songwriter, though at the moment I'm spending more time in the rougher parts of the city, trying to help people get through their problems, or at least... to help them forget for a while. Though this whole lack of color thing is being a pain in the ass." He paused, looking across the plains, eyes narrowing. No color, nothing yet.

"So how about you? What do you do?"

[Jaykobell]

He listened as Evan offered his name and explained what he was all about. "Oh, a singer?" he repeated with a genuine tone of curious interest. "And helping folks with their problems?" Really the perfect person to help him try to figure this whole thing out. No wonder Evan had been so quick to offer help. "I love it! I think it's great when artists can use their influence for good things. So many just use it for fame and for money." Well, of course, people could do whatever they wanted, but that didn't stop Hori from having preferences.

"Oh, me?" he asked when Evan returned the question. "I work for a company." He figured leaving out his actual position might be better for now. Even though the company risked going under if this entire mess didn't fix itself. "It's a company that specializes in colors and pigments called Liquid Color." That, and it was always interesting to gauge just who knew of them, and their honest opinion on the company. "Have you heard of them?"

[Redd]

He could hear his bartender, Toby, in the back of his mind chiding him of his obsession with his self importance, but he pushed it back. He did do good things! Sure his lyrical music was more personal and erring to the side of hip hop and he was mostly shoehorned into DJ gigs, but he still tried.

"Yeah, you know, some people don't get it but people need art and music." he happily agreed. "It's a thing that helps people escape for a time, forget their troubles. Then they're usually more than happy to pay it forward, y'know with charity concerts, volunteer work, that sort of thing. I grew up there, so I always do what I can to pay the kindness I received forward."

And what was that fame or money thing? He definitely didn't hear that. Toby often complained he didn't hear much over his own music or over how loud his fashion sense was.

"Oh wait, hell yeah I've heard of you guys. My first lot of merch was sourced from you guys!" Evan perked up, mildly distracted from his job of watching the device. He highly doubted this guy would know the job, especially since it was all done under his stage name, and he was skeptical of this guy having much pull internally, but he knew it was always worthwhile to get in with places like that.

This day was apparently suddenly turning into a business venture.

[Jaykobell]

Hori found himself agreeing with Evan, and he found himself enjoying this little interaction with a stranger, a new acquaintance. It went without saying that he had grown to appreciate art from working at a company that focused on colors. And not only that, but Evan knew of them, and he had even gotten merchandise that had been created thanks to their products! As co-founder, it always did bring happiness to his heart to hear this.

"Oh, I'm so glad!" he voiced out loud, feeling warm and fuzzy and giddy inside. And when he felt that way, he couldn't help himself from rambling on. "I have a coworker who loves to paint, and he uses the money from selling those paintings to fund the company. His works are amazing! Vibrant, sometimes a little weird and abstract. But people love them! And sometimes he really gets going, and he organizes things for charities and relief funds." He chuckled thinking about that coworker. "Kinda has a sour attitude though. Rough around the edges. You think he doesn't care, but he's a good guy, deep down. Really deep down."

After having heard his voice for so long, all at once, he realized what he'd been doing. "Oh, uh," he mumbled, and just a little timidly, as he started to fiddle with his hands. "Sorry," he apologized with a laugh. "I, uh, I get like that sometimes," he admitted.

"Um, so, wh-what kind of merch was it that you got done?" he asked, shifting the subject just a little bit, trying to bring it back to Evan this time.

[Redd]

Evan just listened, honestly a little glad Hori could talk. Social situations were not his forte, he barely hung out with other people outside of his small circle. Even then, his circle of friends were the most dysfunctional group of misfit's he'd ever met.

He had to wonder about this 'coworker' though, if someone was funding the company, wouldn't that make them a little more than... a coworker? Unless, Hori himself was considered to be on the same level as this guy, then that'd rank Hori a little more highly than he first let on. Scratch that, way higher.

Another good point about Hori rambling, he was slipping in details that he obviously had originally tried to hide.

Evan blinked, returning to the present. Oh, he'd stopped talking and was looking at him. "Sounds like a hell of a guy, this coworker of yours." he commented back, trying to plot his next course of action. "What was his name? I'd be interested in checking out his work, when I get back to the city."

He took a deep breath and ruffled his monochromatic hair. "Uhhh, mostly that stereotypical crap that all of the indie artists go for, shirts, hoodies... we considered caps but that's far too cliched." he laughed at that thought. He paused for a second, grappling a thought. Maybe he could be a bit more open with who he was. Sure he produced a lot of club crap and some of his records were anti-establishment (in his genre, who wasn't) but there was nothing too... offensive in there. "I dunno if you are part of order handling, but it was under the name Comatose, whole lot of dark blue and neon stuff mostly."

[Jaykobell]

Oh, he hadn't completely lost Evan, that was good. A few folks would sometimes zone out after hearing Hori ramble on and on. "Oh, well..." he said quietly when Evan asked for his coworker's name. He laughed a little sheepishly. "Well, most of the works he does do get sold through company auctions, so they don't always carry his name," he explained. "But he does occasionally sell unique works on his own! He signs them under 'Aura'."

Speaking of names, he tilted his head at Evan's own. "Comatose," he echoed. "Hmm, I think my one coworker heard of the name. I think he likes them, something about being edgy, but in a good way? He think he considers it a guilty pleasure," he added with another chuckle. "Like, he'll blast it loud only if no one's around to hear it, or in the car, or..."

His voice trailed away. "But, uh, I do remember some orders being full of neon stuff! We've been getting them more and more lately." They had some regulars who placed identical or similar orders every few months — they were easy to recognize, since the stock was usually the same every time. "So, well, I guess that means you're happy with the quality, right?" Sometimes he worried people did business only because they no better options. That was usually until he remembered where they outsourced the colors for their products; at which point his concerns usually went away.

[Omnisearch's & Redd's Color Harvested]